


Of Gossamer Wings

by cherryjam (blueskull)



Series: Fairy Queen Illya AU [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fairy AU, Fluff, Lalafell Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), though there's no actual wol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24368572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueskull/pseuds/cherryjam
Summary: Titania attempts to teach her guest how to fly.
Relationships: Alphinaud Leveilleur/Warrior of Light
Series: Fairy Queen Illya AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1777027
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	Of Gossamer Wings

**Author's Note:**

> This is a part of a very extensive fairy AU written on tumblr by multiple other people with their own Warriors of Light. Most content can be found [here](https://whitherliliesbloom.tumblr.com/post/616662708089192448/fairy-au-masterlist) and [here](https://ancientechos.tumblr.com/tagged/fae-queen-illya-au). The backstory is [here](https://whitherliliesbloom.tumblr.com/post/610977288020983808/the-joyous-cries-of-the-fae-could-be-heard).
> 
> This fic in particular is intended as a sequel to [this](https://whitherliliesbloom.tumblr.com/post/190967312749/to-the-queen-we-serve-the-intruders-head-cry).
> 
> Illya is not my character, she belongs to a friend (whitherliliesbloom on tumblr, [afflatussolace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afflatussolace)).

One of the first things they would do, the fairy queen informed him, was learn how to fly...

After all, how could Alphinaud hope to be of any help at all if he couldn’t manage such a basic thing for fae? His wings felt clumsy and ungainly on his back, far too heavy to ever manage such elegance as any of the other fairies he had encountered. At least, that was how he felt. Even trying to flap the strange appendages felt hopelessly difficult to him.

Thus it was that the queen had lead him into the gardens, gently hovering above the ground. It seemed as if her feet never touched the earth; she was always in the air, long dress flowing like water about her as she moved.

“I-I’m afraid I’ve never actually taught anyone how to fly,” she admits quietly as she turns to face him in the glow of the afternoon. Though finding anyone who had _taught_ such a thing would be a difficult feat in and of itself...fae have such capabilities innately, an instinctual thing. Mortals who had never had wings, however...

This was different from a blessing of the Crystallite.

Violet eyes narrow as the fae queen alights gently on the ground. Experimentally, she flutters her wings as she walks, attempting to find a way to describe the motions Alphinaud ought to make. She lifts off the ground for only a few moments at a time, a brief trilling hum filling the air as her wings vibrate.

Alphinaud is completely taken in by their sheen. He’d been too, well, terrified to notice in the castle — and perhaps the sun helps now — but her wings look as if they might have gems embedded within them. No wonder some mortals speak of their wings as the source of their magic — he would not doubt it if someone told him they were well made of it.

Though he knows better. There’s clearly some physical component, webbing and structure. And if his back is anything to go by, using those wings to fly is difficult, even if the fairies’ muscles are used to it and find it natural as breathing. It’s not simply magic —

”My apologies,” the queen whispers suddenly. Alphinaud nearly misses her words. “You must prefer someone — someone else to teach you. But, I promise...I won’t...”

It takes a moment for him to realise he’d been so utterly stupefied that he hasn’t even graced her with a response.

”Oh — no — m-my lady... _your majesty_ ,” he stutters, completely uncharacteristic of himself. “I was merely thinking — I’m not used to this sort of body, after all, and I was just wondering how I might ever be accustomed to it. There is no need to apologise.”

The more he speaks, the more he’s terribly aware...he can feel eyes upon them.

Of course, he was not so naive as to assume they were alone. He stands in the presence of the fairy queen, and is an outsider at that. No one in their right mind would let them be together alone...

Yet not being able to see their audience makes him far more uneasy than he would like. This is different from the gaze of that nymph in the forest. He’s of no uncertainty that the owner of _this_ gaze would not hesitate to smite him.

And now the air feels far more heavy and cloying than if it were simply weighted with the heady perfume of the flowers that surround them. And Alphinaud isn’t entirely sure if it’s because they are being watched, or because of how utterly _sad_ the queen looks.

”Y-you are not...uneasy?” the queen asks him — rather uneasily herself. “In my presence? Not even after those silly jokes...”

”No, of course not. Those were merely jokes, were they not? And I’m sure there is no one better to teach me of the art of flying than the fairy queen herself!” The young man forces a smile to his face, though perhaps it’s more wan than he would like. Still, this seems to lift the queen’s spirits, even if only a little.

After a moment’s hesitation, she haltingly explains to him the manner in which he must beat his wings to properly achieve flight. She even turns about to show him as she steps off from the ground, hovering in front of him and easily floating around him in a neat circle. It almost looks like she swims in the air around him, suspended so entirely as if...as if...

Well, as if she were a fairy.

He has absolutely no confidence in himself, truly...but seeing her so earnestly showing him, and so sincere about it has him motivated. He’ll _at least_ manage to hop off the ground — with his wings — even if it kills him. At least that’s what his goal is for today.

He would rather not see her looking so despondent again. How could he allow a queen to think so poorly of herself?

In truth, he’s more frustrated with himself than anything. It seems almost impossible to do such a simple task — his wings simply feel as if they don’t have the strength to pull him upward. Seeing how effortlessly the fairy queen floats around him makes him feel... _discouraged_.

And their secret onlookers make him feel even more useless. Didn’t he say he would be helpful to her, for this one month? And what does this make them think of _her_? Unable to instruct even a lowly human in the very basics of fae life?

Why, it’s enough to —

”Alphinaud?” Her quiet voice breaks through the his tumultuous thoughts. He blinks, looking down at her.

— Looking _down_ —

“You did it!” Titania beams at him in the growing twilight, her small hands clasped against her chest. It takes the man several more seconds to process that, indeed, he’s — floating. In the air.

The fairy queen flutters to eye-level, gentle smile still neatly in place. “I always thought you would be able to do it.”

Somehow, he can’t bear to look at her, the pure honesty in her voice and face has him shying away. Perhaps he’s simply unprepared for a fae to react to him so warmly. So he turns his gaze away, looking for the first time at the gardens stretching beneath them.

“Oh, it’s...” He’s never before seen the world from this height. Never seen — the flowers and trees from the sky like this. Is the human world this pretty? Or is it just the fairy kingdom that looks so beautiful? So...effervescent? As if merely breathing upon the image before him would make it fracture and break?

It seems as if all the colours in the world stretch out beneath him, spiralling in all sorts of shapes and patterns. What would it be like to fly over those flowerbeds, to simply lay amongst them without a care in the world?

”It’s beautiful,” he murmurs as his gaze slides back to her, utterly glowing in the gentle light. Something about her makes his chest ache. Or maybe it’s...the height. He must be dizzy. He’s never done this before, after all. He...

”Um... — How do I get down?”


End file.
